A Boomer at the Crossroads of a Vintage PolicyA Boomer at the Crossroads of a Vintage Policy

A hypothetical policyholder is about to get on a call with just as hypothetical an insurance advisor. They’re going to discuss the options that the policyholder has for a now-vintage life insurance policy that he bought “when he was a kid.” We’ll refer to the policyholder, both individually and generically, as Charlie or “C,” just to show that there are no bounds to my creativity. We’ll refer to the advisor as “A,” for the same reason.

The genesis for the call is that Charlie has finally gotten around to a New Year’s resolution (he won’t say from what year) to work with his wife to consolidate and simplify their finances. He’s about to be pleasantly surprised, albeit a little confused, by all the options he has for the policy. He’s also a...